Pimentel's Power Surge Sparks UTRGV Baseball to Sweep of GW

GoUTRGV.com RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Junior Brandon Pimentel hit a pair of three-run home runs to lead The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros baseball team to a 23-3 victory over the George Washington Colonials on Sunday at UTRGV Baseball Stadium, completing the three-game sweep in front of a crowd of 946. After drawing 2,418 fans on Friday, the largest crowd since prior to 2008, and 1,189 fans on Saturday, UTRGV finishes the weekend with a three-game attendance of 4,553, an average of 1,518 per game, and the best since prior to 2008. This is the third-straight season in which attendance was not limited that UTRGV has drawn more than 4,000 fans for their first three home games. UTRGV drew 4,298 fans (1,433 per game) for games against Kansas State in 2020 and 4,142 fans (1,380 per game) for games against Oklahoma State in 2019. This is UTRGV’s highest scoring output since scoring 23 runs against Louisiana Tech on March 7, 2010. Pimentel drove-in a career-high six RBI, the most for a player in program history since March 5, 2010, when Vinnie Mejia drove-in six runs against Louisiana Tech. Mejia hit one three-run home run in that game. This is the program’s third six-RBI performance since 2008. Jordan Rutenbar drove-in six runs at Northern Colorado without hitting a home run on May 3, 2008. In what was his first-career multi-home run game, Pimentel finished with a career-high three hits, going 3-for-4, and a career-high three runs scored. Pimentel’s first home run went out to right field and gave the Vaqueros (3-0) a 3-1 lead in the first against Justin Solt (0-1). His second home run went out to left field and put the Vaqueros up 8-1 in the fourth. The Colonials (0-3) pulled to within 8-2 in the fifth, but the Vaqueros scored two in the bottom of the inning on a single by graduate student DeAndre’ Shelton, two in the sixth on a bases loaded walk by sophomore Alex Kelch and a Shelton single, and five in the seventh on a three-run double by junior Chris Mondesi and a two-run home by sophomore PSJA alum Jacob Sanchez. Mondesi’s double came on the first pitch he has seen this season while Sanchez’s home run was the first of his career. The Vaqueros added six mor runs in the eighth on a Mondesi bases loaded walk, a Sanchez two-run double, and a pinch-hit three-run home run by junior Raul Ortega. The last two hits were Sanchez’s first-career double and Ortega’s first-career home run, coming in his first at-bat as a Vaquero. Sanchez posted his first-career multi-hit game, going 2-for-2 with a career-high four RBI and a career-high two runs scored. Graduate student Freddy Rojas Jr. finished with his second-career three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a double, two walks and a career-high three runs scored. This is also the second time Rojas has reached five times in a game after doubling twice and walking three times at Dallas Baptist on March 27, 2021. Shelton finished 2-for-3 with a career-high three walks, a career-high three RBI and one run scored. It was his third-career multi-hit game. Kelch recorded the first two hits of his career, going 2-for-3 with a double, one walk, two RBI and one run scored. Graduate student Brett Cain finished this game 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. It was Cain’s second-straight multi-hit game after recording one last season. Junior J.C. Ariza (1-0) started on the mound for the Vaqueros, striking out three while allowing one run on three hits without a walk in 4.0 innings. After graduate student Chase Bridges allowed one run in two innings of relief, junior Diego Escobedo, senior Ricky Gerik Jr., each pitched one scoreless inning of relief. Junior Alex Verdugo pitched the final inning, allowing one run. UTRGV is back in action on Friday at 2 p.m. against Texas Southern at the University of Houston.